Slim's Western Burger

Slim's is the best kept secret in North Portland. Boasting a chef who is Cordon Bleu-trained, a nice array of microbrews, free pool, and live music, there's a lot to like about this hole-in-the-wall bar. The burger is one of these things. Slim's Western BBQ Burger was the initial entry into my journey of burger discovery.

And discover I did.

This one was the perfect combination of everything you love about a cheeseburger from a bar and some serious culinary smarts. The burger consisted of a decent half-pound patty, excellent bacon, melted cheese (Tillamook I believe), great spicy BBQ sauce, two huge onion rings, tomato, and--wait for it--a dollop of fantastic coleslaw. Right on the burger. This was the kicker that made the burger distinctive and awesome as all hell. The way the slaw meshed with the tomato and the spicy BBQ was fantastic. Fresh, crisp, spicy, sweet and delicious.

So here's the breakdown by category:

1. Quality of Meat: 8. Good, but not perfect. Could have used some pink, but I think it was ground on-site.
   
2. Quality of Toppings: 10. Couldn't have been better.
   
3. Quality of Fries: 8. Good fries overall, but they didn't rock my world. Also you had to pay extra for them.
   
4. Consistency: TBD.
   
5. Price: 10. Incredibly cheap prices. This burger was just $6.75, though fries were extra. Still. For what we got, it was a damn good deal.

Intial overall rating: 9.

We're off to a good start here, people. There'll be pics in future posts. Up next: The Slowburger.